Roast poppy seed chicken recipes

The chickpeas, cooked inside the chicken, swell deliciously with the fat and juices from the bird as it roasts. You can expect a 2kg chicken to take a can and a half of chickpeas. The remainder, scattered around the bird, will crisp lightly. Mashed until almost smooth with lemon juice and the roasting juices, you end up with a deeply savoury hummus to eat with the chicken and its crunchy, poppy-seed freckled skin.

chickpeas 2 x 400g cans
chicken 1 x 2kg free-range
olive oil 2 tbsp
redcurrant jelly 2 heaped tbsp
white vinegar 1 tbsp
poppy seeds 1 tbsp
lemon juice of 1
flat-leaf parsley 6 sprigs
olive oil

Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.

Drain the chickpeas, then season them with salt and a little pepper. Place the chicken in a roasting tin on its end and spoon the chickpeas inside the bird, letting any overspill fall into the tin. Lay the chicken down, trickle the olive oil over, season, then roast for about 55 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven, tip or spoon out all the chickpeas and transfer them to a food processor.

Mix the redcurrant jelly and vinegar in a small pan over a moderate heat, then brush the bird with the mixture, scatter with the poppy seeds and return to the oven for 7-10 minutes.

Pull the leaves from the parsley. Process the chickpeas to a smooth, wet purée with the lemon juice, a few spoons of the pan juices from the chicken and the parsley leaves.

Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes, then carve into thick pieces and serve, together with the chickpea purée and any juices from the roasting tin.